EFTA01359406.pdf

Page 4 WHY ARE THE RICH AND POWERFUL SO IN THRALL TO MAXWELL'S DAILY MAIL (London) January 10, 2015 Saturday It soon emerged that his newspaper empire was built on the proceeds of epic criminality, which had seen him defraud its pension fund of almost half a billion pounds. Vilified in the UK, where Robert Maxwell's victims were angered by the plush lifestyle his family had enjoyed at their expense, Ghislaine relocated to New York, where she took up residence in a small apartment, and set about re-inventing herself as a socialite. It was to prove an inspired move. Ghislaine has always been a prodigious networker,' says one acquaintance. People in New York didn't care about the pensions scandal. And, of course, they are all suckers for an English accent.' Maxwell, then 30, quickly met Epstein, a billionaire financier almost a decade her senior. Reportedly attracted by his resemblance to her father, she was soon being photographed as his guest at social functions. He saved her,' one friend told Vanity Fair. When her father died, she was a wreck; inconsolable. And then Jeffrey took her in. She's never forgotten that and never will.' Initial romance soon mellowed into close friendship, however, amid rumours that Epstein wanted to see other women. Ghislaine duly became a fixer-cum-confidante, helping run Epstein's households, travel and social calendar a role she would continue for over a decade. She has unbelievable contacts, and her thing is introducing people,' a friend once said. From a point where he knew no one of importance, she took him into circles in which the Clintons and Kennedys moved.' In return, Epstein gave Maxwell a jet-set lifestyle far beyond anything she could afford from the reported £80,000-a-year trust fund set up for her by her crooked father. She travelled in Epstein's private jets (with everyone from Bill Clinton to Naomi Campbell), and spent time at his outrageously luxurious homes in Florida and his private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Yet there was a dark side to Jeffrey Epstein, laid bare in a string of lawsuits, witness statements and depositions filed in Florida courts by the tycoon's alleged victims. Many mention Ghislaine by name although it must again be stressed that she denies wrongdoing. In 2010 , for example, a woman called BB' claimed that during the years she was allegedly abused by Epstein, Maxwell lived at his mansion in Palm Beach, Florida. She maintained a wardrobe at Epstein's estate, in which she kept sexual toys and outfits,' the lawsuit claimed, adding that Maxwell, upon her own volition, actively and passively participated in sexual acts with minor girls she recruited'. Meanwhile, a police incident report' from 2006, filed as evidence in a different case, contains a detective's account of an interview with a girl alleged to have worked for Epstein and who also met Prince Andrew. For internal use only CONFIDENTIAL - PURSUANT TO FED. R. CRIM. P. 6(e) DB-SDNY-0047485 CONFIDENTIAL SDNY_GM_00193669 EFTA01359406